


A Second Too Long

by joufancyhuh



Category: Beyond The Four Kingdoms - Melanie Cellier
Genre: A Princess of Wind and Wave, F/M, I don't have a set place in the timeline that this happens, One-Shot, Uncle/Niece Incest, not at all canon but we can pretend ;)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:54:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29035005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joufancyhuh/pseuds/joufancyhuh
Summary: A tremor shakes the ground beneath their feet but a kiss shakes more than that.
Relationships: Isla/Nereus
Kudos: 5





	A Second Too Long

**Author's Note:**

> I guess I'm starting a new fandom now? Shipping a rarepair is one thing but shipping a rarepair in a nonexistent fandom is like god tier. 
> 
> It's difficult to write a fic for a book that is so completely well written but I have fallen in love with this noncanon pairing for whatever reason and as Erin says, "Sometimes you just gotta."

“It’s only one extra rotation, I’m certain --”

Nereus cut off Isla with a sharp glare, crossing his arms over his chest while leaning against the door frame to block her exit. “Your father would never allow it, and if you snuck away now --”

“-- no one will even notice I’m gone.” Unless someone requested for her to sing, and that sent everyone into a panic looking for her … which was extremely likely to happen as the best singer in Merrita; Isla bit back her sigh and continued to press her luck with Ray. She could always pull rank; it was a cheap shot and her uncle might never forgive her if she did, but a ball was the last thing she wanted to attend. He could also pull rank as Captain of the Guard, since she asked to swim out with the other guards for patrol, anything to get out of the spotlight. 

“Isla,” he groaned, amusement and irritation alight in his dark eyes. He knew all too well what the Princess was capable of and what offers tempted her now as she stared him down, an angry blush running wildly across her cheeks. The sight of it drew a lazy smile to his lips and he leaned further into the doorway to stir her up further just as the ground below their feet began to quake. 

Another tremor. 

The two exchanged a glance as it picked up intensity, shaking enough for a large statue nearby to crack. The arm of it holding a very sharp trident broke off in mid-tilt, aiming for Isla. Nereus didn’t have time to think, simply let his guard training take over, pulling her to him and spinning them around to block any attacks to come.

The trident clanged to the floor behind him, a little closer than he liked but otherwise docile now. The tremor slowed before fully stopping altogether, and when Nereus regained his senses, he realized for the first time how flush Isla’s body stood with his, his arms tight around her as her wide eyes gazed up at him, crammed up against the door as they were. 

“You … I was standing there, and you …” Her voice shook, incredulous, as her gaze traveled toward the fallen trident. “That was a stupid thing to do.”

“A _thank you_ might be nice,” he grumbled, staring down into her face, attempting not to notice exactly how close it lingered to his own. 

Isla found that she wasn’t in a hurry to leave the warm arms holding her. Ray rarely touched her, even so much as a hug, but she didn’t mind it as much as she would’ve thought. In fact, a very different sort of heat blossomed in her cheeks as her gaze flicked down to his pinched lips before returning to his intense stare. A retort or nag about letting go died on her tongue as it darted out to wet her suddenly parched lips. 

One of them leaned toward the other, neither certain of who moved first, but their lips brushed, soft and tentative. Nereus sucked in a sharp breath through his nose, but stayed close, dipping back down for a longer kiss. Isla strained against him, her mouth a wave that crashed into him. Her arms, sandwiched between their bodies, wriggled out to fold around the back of his neck at the same time his tongue slipped between her parted lips. 

The salt from his earlier patrol lingered on his bottom lip, sucked between her teeth and she nipped. It spurred him on, and his grip on her loosened only for his hands to splay against her lower back. Isla’s head swam with a tingling sensation that trickled down her spine and out along her skin.

Still pressed to the door, the lever caught in her skirts, and she felt the door handle catch enough to pop open. Immediately, she untangled herself from Ray as she started to fall backwards into the hallway, but he somehow managed to swing her back into his arms and reshut the door in one swift motion. 

The moment of his mouth on hers fled, replacing itself with shame that caused Nereus to release her and take a few steps backwards, deeper into the room. “Isla, I’m ...” Usually a portrait of self control, his hands toyed with the weapon on his belt, unsure what else to do with them. 

Isla’s face blared the same shade of red as her hair. Her heart pounded in her ears, still racing from the tremor, of Ray, of almost falling. She placed a hand on her chest as if willing her heart to slow. “It was the adrenaline,” she said, a little breathless as she remained by the entryway. 

Ray was her _uncle_ . Well, half-uncle but _still_. And yet she wanted nothing more than to return to those few seconds before, his lips to hers, his arms a shelter. Sure, he was handsome, and not much older than her, but this … a strangled cry broke the extending silence between them. 

“Isla,” he echoed, his face an unusual shade of pale, all except for his swollen pink lips. “That can’t --”

“I know,” she swiftly cut off, not wanting for him to discover the end of that sentence. 

“We can’t --”

“I _know_ ,” she repeated with more insistence. “Adrenaline, that’s all it was.” Her lips buzzed with absence and she bit into her bottom lip, attention directed toward his chest rather than his face. “I should check on my sisters. And then try and talk with Father again. These tremors ... ” 

“The guard will need me there,” he said, though making no move toward the door. She realized with a start that she still blocked the way out. Turning toward the door and pausing enough to compose herself, she threw it open, on purpose this time, and slipped out into the hallway toward the bedrooms, leaving Ray behind her. 

Maybe it _was_ better to attend the ball this once, if only to help take her mind off of what happened.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't look at me. I can't explain this.


End file.
